20080111

POLITICAL POSTERS - NOW AND THEN

I got this in an e-mail from a friend yesterday and it cracked me up. I wish I had thought of it and done it! It's an very funny parody on our current Presidential race. (I do not know who created this parody - I wish I did. Anyone that creative and funny is someone I would like to know!)

What is more interesting to me is what this image says about the current mindset of American voters. We are not our parents, we no longer have total faith or trust in our government and we are a generation that is used to protesting and airing our views.

Compare this to the World War II posters that abounded during the forties. Do you remember the phrase "Loose Lips Sink Ships"? How about "Uncle Sam Wants You!"

If you're a baby boomer you are familiar with these patriotic mottos and the artwork that appeared all over this country to inspire a patriotic ferver. You will recognize the Uncle Sam - it's the most famous patriotic poster in history. Have you ever seen this Norman Rockwell poster?








There were hundreds of posters generated by the Office of War and these are just a few. The images are linked to pertinent pages and you will find the information fascinating and a wonderful lesson in the history of World War II.

More to point, you will see a visual change in the political views of the Americans of yesterday versus those of today.

This is not the America of the 1940s and we are not the Americans of our parents generation. We are a sadder yet wiser nation. We are not innocent and we are not easily swayed.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I do not know. I wish we could have lived in simpler times, when black was black and white was white and we were right, God Bless America. Our parents knew who the enemy was. We are not so sure anymore.